Orphan Petal

September 2023 - Part 3

Shirley decides that he is now a girl. This means also that everyone knows he is a girl!

As I sat in front of the bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but study the reflection staring back at me. My long, dark blonde hair flowed down my back like a cascade of silk, reaching well past my shoulders. The makeup palette before me held the power to enhance my deep blue eyes, making them pop with an almost mesmerizing intensity. My fingers delicately painted a subtle smoky eye, accentuating the already feminine features of my face.

A Capitol Idea

Morning was the reverse of going to bed, with each of us getting dressed separately in the bedroom. Breakfast was simple, cereal and toast, and we were on our way. There was even parking near the place, so we walked over to the Capitol building. The grounds were huge and had several monuments here and there. We stopped at one and read the plaque.

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Caitlyn.

Caitlyn, meet Lucy

"Hi Caitlyn. You wanted to meet Lucy."

Her eyes got wide, then she smiled.

"Hello Lucy. You're not what I expected."

"Should I go up and change back?"

"No! I just… Damn, you look cute!"

What do you do when you look 7 years old, but you're actually a college student in your late teens? For Kathleen's entire life, she had fought against people treating her much younger than her actual age. Feeling obligated to grow up fast to show people she wasn't the age of her size, Kathleen never let her inner child out. Tired of fighting against the world, she explores the adult submissive world. What she finds, however, is an enjoyment of regression. Had she made a mistake? Would life be better if she just let people treat her how she looks, 7 years old?

Revelation

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, will you?" I said, cautiously.

"Don't get on my bad side, OK."

"That's a promise! Of course I don't think you have a bad side."

"Flatterer."

"I try. You ever think of doing improv?"

"Nope. I spent all week rehearsing once Coach told me who swiped my bag."

"Then maybe a scriptwriter."

"I do like to write."

Hideout
A Short Western Story
By Maryanne Peters

Diva Dismayed: Chapter 25 – My new image

Before the next photo shoot, I had a compelling conversation with my employer. She detained me as I was about to take my break for lunch.

“Jennifer, dear. Have you got a minute.”

I regarded her attentively, wondering what was coming next.

“Don’t look so worried” she smiled. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. How has your modelling been going.”

“It’s been going well, thanks Mrs Millward. Walt seems to be quite happy with me.”

“And are you happy with him? What are you being asked to do?”

Robots swarmed over the field, prepping the rockets for takeoff or unloading cargo from those that had recently landed.

"Ginny, how does it go again?" Emily pretended to ask the other girl "Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas?"

What was her problem? This reminded me of middle school. Looking the way I did back then, I was an easy target. A boy that looked like a girl? The jokes basically wrote themselves.

Middle school taught me to have a thick skin. So whatever Emily here thought she was going to achieve by insulting me, I had bad news for her.

"What does an appeal for judicial reform mean to the monarchy?" King Richard asked.

Yes, that was how he began a conversation with his son. No 'hello', no 'how are you?'.

Didn't he even wonder where Nick had been all this time? He didn't seem to care. A lousy hug seemed enough for him and apparently Nick as well, because he too got right into answering the question.

“What about,” she said, “we play a game of two truths and a lie. Only we mix it up so you tell, I dunno, four or five lies for every truth, and you don’t tell me whether my guesses are right? That way you get the benefit of unburdening yourself, but I’m no wiser about your secretive employers than I was before.”

House of Women
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I was one of three boys growing up on an isolated farm, so my original experience of women was my mother. I knew that she was different because my father always told me so – he told all of us.

“Your mother is a woman, and women are different,” he said. “They need to be looked after by men - like you will grow up to be. They need to be admired and respected. If you are lucky like me, you will end up with a woman who will be the greatest thing you ever possess.”

Saturday morning, before my shower, I put on Eve’s underwear and I was changed into Eve. It took at a maximum four days between changes. I suppose I had to experiment to find out the minimum time between changes. Robert was awake as I came out of the bathroom.

“Eve?” He said. “I thought you would wait to change closer to when Marc was coming by to pick you up?”

“I figured I should get reuse to this body before I saw him. Everything is so big again.”

“You are so lucky.”

“I am?” I wasn’t sure what he was referring to.

A Family Mystery
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

I found this picture in the attic just before Grandma died. She wanted me to bring down some photos of her in her youth, but this one seemed much older. She recognized it immediately.

“That is my grandmother’s brother,” she said. “I know it is hard to believe, but that pretty young thing is a young man.”

I needed to know more. I was deeply fascinated by the image even without hearing about who it was.

Frock Therapy
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

If I blame anyone for anything that happened, then I would blame my job.

I worked on a trading floor with a bunch of young men. There were some women. But let’s face it, stock trading suits the male ego. Women give up and move on to something without the bullshit. That was what I wanted to do, but I stayed on until the pressure drove me crazy.

In an overpopulated world rescuing the wrong person can be a crime.
Ambulance driver Nick and his partner Eliza were sentenced to forty years in prison.
But after a year they get a strange offer.
The company Nixen will pay off their debt and get them out of jail.
All they have to do is go to space for a year.
And to give up their body.
Not to worry, their new ones will be shiny and will have a tail.

For reasons that seemed obvious at the time, I dreamed about my grandfather again that night. He and the other old man I’d seen in my previous dream were sitting around a fire, talking in low voices, frequently glancing at me where I was tied up and struggling to get loose.

I moaned as he pulled me closer. I still don't know what came over me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his settled around my waist. I didn't want to stop.

If Robert or any of the others were in the bridge, they would have been getting a steamy show but I didn't care. For those few mind-blowing minutes, it was like something inside me had snapped.

What do you do when you look 7 years old, but you're actually a college student in your late teens? For Kathleen's entire life, she had fought against people treating her much younger than her actual age. Feeling obligated to grow up fast to show people she wasn't the age of her size, Kathleen never let her inner child out. Tired of fighting against the world, she explores the adult submissive world. What she finds, however, is an enjoyment of regression. Had she made a mistake? Would life be better if she just let people treat her how she looks, 7 years old?

Fate brings Christopher back to Lady Mariam whom he had long admired...
Reality meant to live a fantasy...

As I said at the beginning of Chapter One, I have to thank Jill and Eric for their input into this story. I hope that I achieved something we can all be proud of.
Marianne

Chapter 39

The upshot of the whole thing was, as usual, a lift in sales of all the albums that Josie had been on, even the forgotten one she did with the girl group in L.A. I got Allan to put all my part of those sales into a trust fund for the twins, which also took the proceeds of the sale of their family home, as well as their shares of the estate.

Anderson is temporarily filling in as a beauty product influencer... but can he pull off such a feminine side hustle? And what if he ends up thriving?

Anderson’s Aunt Trinity is an up-and-coming beauty influencer — testing out makeup, hair products, and clothing. That is, until an injury takes her out for the entire summer, rendering her unable to pose or post. Fortunately for her, Anderson is fresh out of nursing school and fully equipped to be her caretaker. But as for her blossoming beauty business? She still needs someone to carry on the work. Maybe Anderson can lend her a hand — as long as he’s okay with just a few feminine changes…

This is Chapter 2 of the 249-page, ~62,000-word novel is available for its entirety for Kindle. The first three will be shared here as samples! :)

-Jennifer

Lance sees a makeover offer at a costume shop that he couldn't pass up. Unfortunately, he didn't have the money to pay for it, but the store owner was willing to make a deal.